Across Space and Time
by Aurialis
Summary: Maka and Soul meet through tumblr and fluff ensues.


dates,** posts and or tumblr messages,** _texts_

December 15th, 7:30 am

"Soul! What do you think you're doing? Get up at once! You're going to be late for school!" the boy's mother shrieked.

"It's only five in the morning, I have loads of time…" Soul drawled blearily, the words slipping out as easily as his drool.

"Wipe that drool off your chin! Can't you sleep like a respectable boy? And it's seven in the morning! School starts in half an hour!" she screeched furiously, unceremoniously yanking the blankets off Soul, causing the white-haired boy to tumble onto the floor, a rough landing from a bed as high up as his.

"What the hell?" Soul moaned in pain. Noticing the time, he exclaimed, "Aw shit, I'm gonna be late!"

"Don't you use your foul language around me, boy! Now hurry up and get dressed so your father can drop you off on time!"

"What about food?" he whined sadly, getting up and starting the search for his uniform.

"You slept in didn't you?" his mother retorted haughtily, practically breathing fire at her failure of a son, before striding out of his room, heels hitting the floor savagely.

Scowling fiercely, Soul got dressed and stumbled out of his room. Grabbing his backpack from beside the door, the red-eyed teenager made his way down to the garage where his father was waiting impatiently in the car.

"Hurry up, we're going to be late!" the older man glowered furiously; starting the engine before Soul even had the chance to properly sit down, much less buckle up.

"Good morning to you, too, Dad," answered Soul, finally managing to put on the seatbelt as they drove onto the road, leaving the long driveway from the mansion behind them in a shower of gravel.

"Watch your lip!" his father ordered, watching the road like a hawk.

"Yeah, yeah," sighed Soul, slouching in his seat and leaning tiredly against the window.

"And sit up! You're not a hooligan!"

With a groan, the boy straightened his back, lazy red eyes peering out the window listlessly, watching the world fly by in a blur while he was stuck here in a pool of tension and misery.

When they finally arrived at the school, Soul grabbed his backpack and burst out of the car, slamming the door behind him while shouting an almost sarcastic 'thanks' over his shoulder. The boy rolled his ruby eyes at his father's scolding as he raced across the empty ground, trying to get to class on time. Bursting through the main doors, Soul flew through the elegant hallways, his shoes squeaking against the polished wooden panels as he ran down corridors and swung around corners.

The boy just managed to hurtle through the door to his first period music class, drawing everyone's gaze to him as he panted heavily on his way to the piano behind the teacher, who scowled at him. Ignoring the frowns and attention, Soul collapsed onto the piano seat and dropped his bag on the floor, pulling out his sheet music as he did. At a nod from the teacher, the boy started playing, cuing the choir to sing.

He was stopped almost immediately, causing Soul to roll his eyes as the teacher started correcting the baritone's pitch. Leaning his elbow on the side of the piano, the white-haired boy balanced his chin on his palm, relaxing for the first time this morning. A sudden rap of metal on wood jolted him out of the blessed state, nearly making Soul fall off the bench. The teacher's glare could burn through diamonds at this point, making Soul, despite his experience with the stares, blush, gulp, sit up straight, and perform as best he could when his fingers were tripping over each in their exhaustion and his brain could barely function.

December 15th, 4:45 pm

The day went from bad to worse for Soul, culminating in being ditched at home - though that might have actually been a blessing - while his parents went to a really nice restaurant with Wes for dinner because he did well at an audition. Which, of course, everybody forgot to tell him about, and since the audition was at the same time Soul's school let out, he ended up walking home two miles. In the rain, obviously, since what hadn't gone wrong yet? When he'd gotten home, his parents had forced him to start practicing immediately.

As soon as his folks were out the door and therefore, out of hearing range, Soul ditched the stupid piano he'd been slaving over for the last two hours since he'd gotten home and started foraging in the kitchen. Ending up with a bag of chips and a bottle of soda, Soul dragged them upstairs and flopped down on his bed, nearly dislodging his laptop. Managing to save it just in time, Soul opened it up to tumblr, ignoring the pile of homework in his backpack downstairs that he neither understood nor cared about, not with the headache that had been pounding his skull all day.

**They can all burn in hell as far as I'm concerned.**

The post was angry and bitter, fueled with the frustration of sleeping in, nearly nodding off in class, a pop quiz, a forgotten lunch, and a detention for lip. Oh yeah, and his parents forgot about him when they weren't forcing him to practice. As much as Soul hated to admit it, that kind of hurt too, beyond the soreness in his legs and hands.

To the white-haired boy's surprise, a message popped up in his inbox. Why would anyone be messaging him now? He'd barely had any time to post anything that usually went on his blog, not with having practiced so late last night under the strict supervision of his parents.

**Hey, you okay? Want to talk about it? Do you need anything?**

"What?" Soul asked out loud, so completely shocked that he couldn't even answer for ten minutes, just staring at the message and reloading the page to make sure it was real. "Why do you care….milestogobeforeisleep?"

Shrugging, Soul typed out a reply, because why not?

**parents are coming down real heavy, always making me practice the stinkin' piano, school was horrible, and now they've ditched me to hang out with my perfect older brother (I'm the family disappointment, in case you couldn't tell)**

A reply came back instantly.

**I know how you feel, stupid parents are the worst. And I'm sure you're amazing; sometimes people just can't see it, y'know? (|||****︵****.) Is there anything I can do to help? Do you need anything to cheer you up?**

**nothing anyone can do really, unless you know how to teleport me to an alternative dimension**

**But then the people in this one would miss you.**

**like who? my parents couldn't care less and it's not like I have any friends**

The resulting answer got a snicker out of the red-eyed boy.

**Don't be so pessimistic! ****ᕦ**** (ò_óˇ)** **ᕤ** **There will be people who care about you and who will want to be your friends, trust me. You just haven't found them yet.**

**sure, whatever you say :)**

**(****；￣****Д****￣）**

**how'd you find the post anyway?**

**What?**

**you don't follow me or anything, just curious is all.**

**Oh. No, I don't follow you. I was just scrolling through the people who this other person I follow follows.**

**heh heh. bad first impression, huh?**

**I've seen worse. (****) There was one time where the person's first post was a close up of real gore...**

**why would anyone want that on their blog anyway?**

**Who knows? ¯\\_ (****ツ****) _/¯**

Not really knowing how to respond, Soul scrolled through his playlist and listened to music until he fell asleep.

December 16th, 5:32 pm

**Feeling any better?**

Soul stared at his inbox in shock again. Why did she care? No one ever had before.

**eh… it's Saturday, so they forced me to play almost as soon as I got up. after about an hour or two, Wes (my brother) came in and distracted them, so now I'm hanging out downtown (or as downtown as it can get in this small place)**

**Urgh, that stinks. (¬****､****¬) At least you have someone to distract your folks. I'm all alone against my stupid father.**

**Wes is the reason all my problems exist, so idk, he does help out when he can though. what's wrong with your dad? if you don't mind or whatever**

**He's stuck with the belief that I'm still two years old and think of him as a parental figure.**

**ahh… I know what you mean. it's really annoying when people think you respect or like them and you don't**

**Yep. Especially when there's really no way to avoid them.**

Not really sure how to respond to that, Soul didn't answer. Interestingly, another message popped up soon enough.

**So how's it going with you, aside from your stupid parents?**

**school's boring and I've got a lot of homework that I neither understand or care about**

**SCHOOL IS NOT BORING! AND YOU SHOULDN'T BE SO IRRESPONSIBLE!**

Rolling his eyes, Soul groaned. So she was a geek. Great.

**calm down will you?**

**School isn't boring though, and you really shouldn't avoid your homework like that. You might not pass the class.**

**it's not like I care**

**Lazy bum.**

**nerd**

**And proud. We're still cooler than procrastinating idiots like you.**

Chuckling slightly, Soul grinned at his phone and shot back a reply.

**you wish you could be cool like me**

**I don't need to; I'm already cooler than thou.**

**thou? really?**

**Sorry, my phone always does autocorrect from 'you'. **(∥￣■￣∥)

**suuuuuureeeeeee**

**HEY! IT'S TRUE!**

**sheesh, no need to be so violent**

**BACK OFF LAZY PANTS**

**LOOK! no punctuation!**

**You- you- I'm done.**

December 20th, 8:26 pm

**did you seriously just reblog a Katy Perry song? you shouldn't be allowed to put music on your blog. ever**

**Back off! That one's really good!**

**Firework? really?**

**Stop.**

**judging initiated…**

**Don't you dare.**

**judging 50% complete… judging 89% complete… judging finalized.**

**And what's the conclusion? ****໒****( ****ᓀ** **‸** **ᓂ**** )****७**

**your quality of music taste is below negative**

**That's not even possible, you music snob.**

**geek**

**Rude.**

January 3rd, 6:56 pm

**Really? Rocks?**

**what?**

**You're a geology fan? I never would've expected that from you.**

**because it apparently wasn't clear enough the first time, what?**

**You like rocks! What is there not to get?**

**what gave you such a ridiculous idea?**

**Your sideblog.**

**I have a sideblog? Since when?**

**STOP LYING TO YOURSELF. You accidentally made a post on here about rocks and then deleted it b/c 'oops wrong blog'. But I saw. And I found the sideblog. And sheesh, you're a dork!**

**….**

**I hate you**

**I hate you too. :D**

February 29th, 4:24 pm

**Do you have any nicknames on here?**

**no, you?**

**Not really, I don't really have any friends here either (besides you)**

**thanks, that warms the bottom of my stone-cold heart**

**But seriously, do you want to make up nicknames? It's weird just thinking of you by your url.**

**fine, Soul.**

**Where did that come from?**

**it's my name doofus. and I thought you were the smart one. (don't ask what my parents were thinking, I don't know either)**

**No, it's a nice name. I was just surprised. I'm Maka.**

**nice to meet ya Maka**

**Nice to meet you too, Soul.**

March 9th, 3:37 pm

**My friends are insane.**

**what happened?**

**So today Kid was obsessing about everybody's symmetry and then BlackStar came in and had a bruise on his arm from trying to 'surpass the gods' as he puts it (probably doing dangerous stunts), causing Kid to almost have a conniption and urgh… I love them but they can be so tiring sometimes.**

**sounds like way too much work**

**Eh, they're worth it.**

Rolling his eyes, Soul wrote back: **if you say so**

March 21st, 11:13 pm

**Hey, Soul?**

**yeah?**

**Do you want to exchange numbers or something? I mean, so that we actually know when we get a message from the other.**

**eh… sure, why not? 617-502-0937**

**102-940-8215**

Soul sat back and fished his phone out of the pile of blankets that called itself his bed. Entering the number, he texted: _yo. you there?_

_I don't know, are you?_

_Maaaakkaaaaa_

_Whaaaaaattttt?_

_you're impossible_

_So are you. Deal with it._

April 24th, 12:00 am

_Happy birthday nerd! :)_

_Is your gift proper grammar for once?_

_naw check your email_

_And there the grammar disappears. __（；__＿__¬)_

_(Seriously dude, THANKS (__｀・__ω__・__´)" )_

_SOUL ILY SO MUCH! (_ _‿◕__ฺ__)__ノ__))__。__₀: *__) 333333 THANK YOU XINFINITY! IT'S AMAZING! (__๑__ ‿_ _#) __｡__◕‿◕__｡ __( __ﾉ__^ω^)__ﾉﾟ_

_you're welcome maka. :D have a good birthday!_

April 24th, 11:07 pm

_C'mon Maka-baka, what's wrong?_

_We've been texting for ten minutes I can tell you're upset. Did something happen?_

….

_Yes._

_Is it better if I don't know?_

_For now._

_Sure, whatever. I'm not going anywhere._

April 25th, 4:32 am

_Soul._

_what?_

_My papa is stupid._

_what did he do_

_You know how yesterday was my birthday?_

_I came home at 7 from hanging out with friends at the arcade and he already a woman on the couch. I ended up crashing at Tsubaki's after yelling at them._

_hell, where are you now?_

_Home, I snuck in through the back window today. He didn't even remember that it was my birthday; he thought I was just mad at him for the normal reasons._

_what kind of weapon do you think is best for murder, a cello or a sharpened bow?_

_I doubt you can lift a cello, so the bow might be better._

A couple moments passed, where Soul scrambled for what to say, and settled on his first reaction.

_I'm sorry._

Nothing.

_life sucks and you don't deserve this and I'm sorry_

Maka called him unexpectedly, the vibrating phone jolting Soul out of tiredness. He answered and mumbled, "I'm here."

The girl didn't say anything, making Soul check his phone once or twice to make sure it was working. In the end, Maka never did end up uttering a word, but fell asleep to the sound of Soul's steady breathing going in sync with hers.

June 19th, 10:12

_YOU WILL NOT BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED! :DDDD_

_What?_

_WES IS AWESOME!_

_Specifics please dude._

_IT'S A MIRACLE!_

_C'mon man…_

_WES IS MOVING OUT AND TAKING ME WITH HIM. I'M GOING TO BE FREEEEEEE_

_CONGRATS! I really hope this works out for you. You deserve it! __（__）__ *hugs*_

_thanks Maka!_

Soul grinned, still barely able to believe it himself.

_so what's up with you?_

_Good. The fake-bro was an idiot today._

_what were you expecting from him?_

_Haha. Good point. His girlfriend nearly killed him from embarrassment._

_what did BlackStar do?_

_He tried to spray paint our gym teacher (big, muscled, not a good idea)._

_wow…. 0.0 I question your sanity sometimes_

_Why mine?_

_because you hang out with him_

_I…. uh, can't really argue with that?_

July 9th, 5:28 pm

Soul opened up Skype, sitting back on his bed anxiously and trying to hide his nervousness as it loaded. They'd never seen each other before, though the boy had talked to Maka on the phone a couple times. Almost as soon as Skype turned on, Maka sent him a call.

"Hey," he answered lazily, peering at the camera from under his bangs. Staring at Maka in surprise, Soul grinned involuntarily. She was really pretty, with blonde hair let loose around her shoulders and bright green eyes staring... at his…

Soul's fingers dashed to the mouse pad and the call ended abruptly. He leaned back against the wall, hand hiding his mouth in reflex, groaning in frustration. Of course. Why should he have expected anything different? No wonder Maka was horrified.

To the boy's surprise, his screen lit up with another call, which after four rings and too much worrying to be healthy, he answered.

"Geez Soul, why would you just leave like that?" Maka scowled in annoyance, acting as if there wasn't anything strange looking about him. "Seriously, what were you doing?"

One brilliant garnet stared at her earnest, leafy green eyes. Soul had always been good at reading faces, and Maka's was honest and sincere.

"So you…?"

"No, I don't care. You're cute, to be honest," she assured him, blushing more than a fair bit.

Burning, Soul leaned back, the boy's head resting on his headboard in relief. "Oh yeah, let me show you my room," he suggested suddenly, picking up his laptop in an attempt to dispel the slight tension.

"Don't you mean your cave of messiness?" his friend responded dryly, pretending she didn't hear his muttered 'You're pretty too,' even though they both knew Maka had.

July 27th, 9:38 pm

_disney princesses Maka, really?_

_What?_

_DISNEY PRINCESSES MAKA_

_I'm still confused…_

_are you kidding me?_

_What's wrong with Disney? Or princesses?_

_roflmao. I expected more from you Maka_

_SHUT UP SOUL! DISNEY IS AMAZING AND SO ARE THEIR PRINCESSES!_

_suuuuureeee_

_You just don't like it because they're princesses._

_don't be so judgmental maka-baka, it's got nothing to do with them being princesses_

_Oh really?_

_well yeah, nausicaa's great and she's a princess_

_Is this another anime thing?_

_sorta…. wait, you're telling me you haven't watched ghibli movies?_

_Nooooo…_

_GET ON NETFLIX RIGHT NOW, WE'RE MARATHONING THESE BABIES_

_Soul! I've got things to do!_

_NOW MAKA. NOW._

_Alright, alright._

Soul watched as Skype notified him that she had logged on. As his screen lit up with her face, the white-haired boy smirked victoriously.

Suddenly, Maka exclaimed, "Wait! Before you get comfy, have you done the dishes Soul?"

"What?"

"Have you done the dishes? I know Wes does the laundry, you've complained about it enough times, the least you can do is unload the dishwasher."

"Is NOW really the time?" Soul demanded furiously.

"If not now, Soul, then when? Since you clearly want this to be a long marathon thing?"

Soul just stared at her in shock. "You just referenced Nausicaa!"

"Huh?"

Laughing, Soul waved off Maka's confusion and protests, only proceeding to turn on Netflix.

….

When Wes came home, he heard animated bickering coming from behind Soul's door, making the older brother smile from the knowledge that the fondness in Soul's voice didn't come out for anybody but Maka.

August 24th, 7:18 pm

"Make, you have to stop."

"No."

"This is becoming an addiction."

"Soul!"

"This is a bad idea anyway."

"Soul, stop. You sound incredibly stupid."

"No Maka! This has to stop! You cannot keep watching horror at night! You always end up calling me to freak out about it!"

"I'm not freaking out about it! I really like the movies!"

"Which ends up waking me up! You're not letting ME sleep!"

"You sleep in class anyway!"

"Because you keep waking me up with calls!"

"Liar! You were doing that before I even knew you!"

"You can't prove that!"

"Yes I can!"

"How?"

"Wes."

"No, don't you dare."

"WESSSS!" Maka called through the screen.

Soul's brother opened the door to his younger brother's room calmly. "Yes Maka?"

"Did Soul fall asleep in class before he knew me?" she shouted over Soul's attempts to drown her out.

"He can sleep anywhere since before you two entered middle school," smirked Wes, deducing that he was helping his kid brother lose an argument.

"Traitor!" Soul bellowed, get up and proceeding to shove Wes out.

"Clean up your room you slob!" Wes tossed over his shoulder as he left.

August 29th, 3:02 am

_Maka_

_Soul? What are you doing? Isn't it 3 am over there too?_

_why do you talk to me_

_Huh? Why wouldn't I?_

_seriously_

_I am! You're funny and sweet and much nicer than you'd like to believe._

A couple minutes passed before Maka texted him again.

_Are you ok? What's wrong?_

_no one needs me maka_

_Soul, I need you. Who else is going to talk to me at twelve in the morning and tell me to go to bed instead of studying? Who else is going to hang out with me and listen to me rant about books?_

_you have friends_

_Not like you._

Rolling over onto his back, spreadeagle across the bed, Soul felt a small grin fight its way across his face.

_thanks maka-baka_

_Anytime, Soul. NOW SLEEP FOR GOODNESS' SAKE._

Chuckling lowly, Soul texted back and set his phone on the floor, curling up in the blankets and finally relaxing enough to sleep.

_sure maka_

_Good night Soul. [heart]_

As daylight poked through his curtains, Soul yawned widely and sat up, glancing at his phone on the floor curiously. He scrolled through the texts, and when the white-haired boy saw Maka's last one, it immediately caused him to blush. Flopping over face-down, Soul beamed into the pillow, feeling as if fireworks were exploding in his chest and causing his body to grow warm, as if he were finally comfortable.

"Why are you smiling so much? It's bloody unnatural," smirked Wes in greeting as Soul stumbled into the kitchen sleepily.

Putting on a scowl, Soul asked with mock anger, "Happy now?"

"I'm never happy."

"That's my line."

September 15th, 8:03 pm

"I don't want to."

"Come on Maka, I thought you said you weren't a chicken," Soul sneered, egging her on.

"But Soooouuuulllll," she whined. "You know I don't like creepy things like this!"

"Scaredy cat," snickered Soul, making Maka blush.

"Whatever. Fine," the blonde agreed grudgingly. "Turn on the game then."

"What? I'm not playing. I'm going to watch you play it," Soul grinned toothily, revealing his sharp teeth smugly.

"No! I don't want to do this at all!"

"But I already know how to beat it! There's no point to me playing it!"

"I don't have the game though!"

"Just download it. I'll send you the link by email," he answered bossily, switching tabs instantly.

Groaning, head in hands, Maka went to her email, seeing as there was no way to avoid her fate.

"So this is the second one?" Maka questioned as the game booted up on her computer, light reflecting off her glasses.

Leaning back against his bed's headboard, Soul drawled, his rough voice dripping with smugness, "Yep."

"What's the point of me playing the new version when I've never even watched someone play the old one?" muttered Maka grouchily.

"So I can watch you fail even more epically."

Maka turned to Soul's face, hovering near the top of her screen, and smiled sweetly, "Swine."

"Geek."

"Cretin."

"Violent dictionary."

They continued back and forth tonelessly as Maka clicked 'play' and listened to the instructions. "So basically, rewind the music box, check the cameras, vents, and door, but not really often because I'll lose battery too fast then, put on the mask if the animatronics get too close, right?"

"Essentially."

"Alright then. It's go time," Maka said, her voice filled with determination, but the crazy grin on her face full of malice.

Soul eyed his screen warily, wondering if this had been a good idea.

"Is that one of the animatronics I'm supposed to avoid?" his friend questioned upon spotting the blue bunny in the party room.

"Yep."

"He looks so happy," she chuckled.

"You don't mind him now, what about when he's trying to eat your face?" Soul singsonged.

Clicking through the cameras, Maka froze when static appeared across the screen. "What's happening?" Suddenly, the monitor cleared and the blue bunny was staring at her, eyes wide and child-like. "Gah!" she screamed, jumping back away from the computer.

Almost immediately her door flew open, rocketing off Maka's bedroom wall and slamming shut again. The person on the other side kicked the door open and stood there, a frying pan the only visible thing from Soul's perspective. "What happened? Are you ok Maka?"

"I'm fine Papa, just playing a scary game," Maka answered, rolling her eyes.

"Why are you playing a scary game?" he demanded, stomping over.

Maka's eyes burned with anger. "Why not?"

"You're too young for such things!" her father ranted, oblivious to his daughter's growing fury.

Standing up, Maka unceremoniously started pushing the man out of her room, slamming the door behind him.

"Not a word Soul," she growled, sitting back down.

"Wasn't going to say anything," he muttered back sympathetically.

Clicking through the cameras, Maka noticed the flashing triangle, the red light glowing in the corner of her screen. Swearing lightly, she moved to wind up the music box again, grumbling as she did about how it had already completely unwound. "Why a music box? They're one of the creepiest things known to man." As she clicked through the cameras, Maka's hand suddenly stilled, a look of fear on her face, "Where's the bunny?"

"What bunny?" Soul asked innocently.

"Where's the friggin bunny Soul?!" she demanded, growing worried. Finally seeing him in the vent right outside her office she gasped. "Where did you come from? How can you move? Seriously, how do these move?"

"I heard it might have to do with five kids who got murdered there or something?" her friend suggested, a look of helpful innocence on his face. Except his eyes, his ruby eyes were full of malicious glee.

"Soul! Not. Helping!" Maka scolded him angrily, heading to the office room. Checking the vents, her breathing sped up at the flashing red triangle signifying that the music box had run out. "What should I do? What should I do?" she muttered to herself.

Taking pity, Soul answered, "Wind up the music box."

Maka did as he suggested, groaning under her breath about the vent, hands pressed together against her lips for a moment or two, trying to calm down. "Go back to your warren or something, you abomination against nature!" Breathing out a sigh of relief as the shaft remained empty, the girl proceeded to check the door and the other vent as well. The bunny appeared the second time she lit up the vent though. Hyperventilating, she flipped on the mask, and sat there, waiting anxiously. The bunny appeared through the eye holes, going slowly from side to side. "Go away! Go away!" Maka pleaded, waving frantically at the screen. "You're not natural! Burn in fire!" Pausing for a second, she asked, "Who's breathing are you hearing?"

"I don't know, maybe it's the bunny's?" Soul piped up, all helpfulness having vanished.

"You. Just… shut up," Maka ordered distractedly. "How can they move so fast? It's a giant robot bunny!" she demanded. "Surely they'd be very noisy!"

"It's... magic!" the white-haired boy explained gleefully, shaking with laughter and thus tilting his camera wildly.

"You shut up and stay shut up!" the blonde roared angrily, staring confusedly at her screen as the mask lifted up. "Huh?" Suddenly a white mask with red cheeks and chin and indigo tracks from it's eyes popped out at her, causing the girl to shriek and fall back off the bed. She sat up again, eyes peering over the edge worriedly, only to narrow and fill with flames at Soul's peals of laughter coming through her laptop. "Soul," she started cooly, climbing back onto her bed.

"Yeah?" he chortled out between howls.

"I'm going to _kill _you."

Noting her furious expression, Soul wisely chose to stifle his laughter and not respond.

December 20th, 12:55 pm

Sitting on the low wall, Soul listened to his music impatiently, trying not to burst from excitement.

When a tall girl stopped in front of him, he grinned at her. "Hey, Maka."

"Right back at ya Soul," she smirked, stepping back as he hopped off the wall. Soul smiled widely in response to her beam, but was still caught by surprise when the blonde hugged him. After a second, she returned the embrace, both of them just standing there and hugging, so excited to actually have the other one there, to be able to touch them.

"I missed you Soul," Maka whispered into his jacket.

"I missed you too, Maka," he answered softly.

It was a feeling of coming home, of finally being where they belonged. It was a relief from the aching need to touch and to know. It was missing what you'd never had.

…..

During the movie, when the ending credits were rolling, Maka leaned over and kissed Soul's cheek lightly, causing him to blush brighter than his eyes, despite the boy acting like he didn't notice. Maka grinned and sat back to enjoy the animated characters dancing across the screen, using the credits as props in their movements.

One they had left the movie room, Soul, blinking in the bright light of the theater lobby, lazily threw his arm across the blonde's shoulders as if it was nothing. Beaming at him, Maka listened as he grumpily dissected the music of the movie.

"So what'd you think of the plot hole?"

"Plot hole?"

"Well yeah. It's obvious that there's was no reason for the guy to make a robot if he just told the others he was Australian."

Soul stared at her in surprise for a second, before ruffling the blonde's hair lightly. "Stop being so smart, you're forcing me to think."

"You know how to think?" Maka questioned innocently, causing him to glare at her.

"The way you know how to listen to music."

"Soul! Stop it!" she growled, slapping his arm in annoyance. "We are not going to bring that up again!"

Rolling his eyes, Soul laughed and shook off her attempts to intimidate him, hiding how well they may have worked.

His arm around her, they emerged into the snow covered street, Maka grinning at the beautiful sight.

"Wasn't it around this time?"

"What?" Maka asked, looking up at Soul.

"Y'know, when we started talking," he muttered embarrassedly, shuffling his feet.

The blonde looked up at the sky and breathed out, white air billowing out in front of her. "Ohhh." Turning around to beam at him, Maka exclaimed, "I'm really happy I messaged you that day."

Soul's face was pure shock, but the stunned delight was clearly visible in his eyes as Maka hugged him tightly.

Burning, he bent down his head a little so he was nuzzling the top of the girl's head. "Me too," she heard him breathe out softly. As Maka pulled back slightly so she could look at Soul, he grinned and kissed her softly, which the girl easily returned.

"I love you Soul," she whispered as they started walking through the snow covered streets, snow falling from the sky softly.

"Love ya too Maka."


End file.
